Note: The jam deadline has been extended. For details, please see the bottom of the page.

Hi there! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I'm Beth, and welcome to my very first game jam!

✨Wanna chat about the jam? Join me at the Weird Raptor server [down in "Game Design and Publishing", then #other-contests]! This isn't an official Weird Giraffe Games/Galactic Raptor Games jam, but Carla was kind enough to allow me to use space there, and I'm there all the time anyway lol✨

🎶Bethie's Extraordinary Jam🎶 is a jam all about, you guessed it, music! I listen to a lot of music, dozens of hours a week while I work from home, and I often find a lyric, title, or theme that's begging to be turned into more. I originally planned to do this challenge alone and then decided, hey, I love game jams and always have, why not start a game jam myself? Plus it's my birthday month, so I'll be starting off my 40s with my very first game jam! 

🎧A game based on music!🎧

Here's the gist of it: pick a song, a lyric, a band, heck, a band member or even their style, then use that influence to create a tabletop game. The more easily that influence is seen in what you create, the better! But that doesn't mean it has to be obvious at first glance.

For example, maybe you're a big fan of this gem:

You could make a game based on silly villains, or go a little deeper and make it about villains that are trying their darndest but just can't seem to get a break. Or you can fixate on the banana peel bit and make a game about people sliding around on banana peels! 

What it boils down to is: it's not necessarily important for someone to be able to look at the game and know what it's based on, but once someone finds out what it's based on, they should go "oooooohhhhhhhh okay that makes sense, that's awesome, I totally see that" not "wait, what?"

And hey, if you already have a game based on a song or whatever, that's cool! Feel free to enter it!

🎶Bethie's Extraordinary Bundle🎶

After the jam, I'm going to put together a bundle of all the games that follow the rules (at my discretion), with the revenue equally split between creators. This is ENTIRELY OPTIONAL! The submission form for entering a game will ask if you want your game to be in the bundle or not; if you don't want your game to be in it, that's totally cool! It's up to you, and I swear I won't hold it against you if not. I mean, I'd be shocked if we each make more than a few bucks out of it anyway lol. But keep in mind that the split is per creator, not per game.

❓Why Not Video Games, Beth❓

I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to accept video games or not. I used to make Flash games myself, and there are so many amazing indie video games out there, even right here on Itch! But in a ranked jam, a video game that someone can load right up and play in their browser or even download and run is almost definitely going to get a lot more plays and attention than a tabletop game that requires reading through and learning rules, maybe even finding another person to play with...

Since I'm a tabletop game creator myself and want to make sure they're highlighted, I decided against video games this time. I do plan to do more jams in the future, and the first jam I do that's not ranked will certainly include video games :D

🏆Judging Criteria🏆

There are two things each game will be judged on:

• How much does the game fit the source?
• How excited are you to play it?

That's it :D Nothing about the layout, size, game's theme or mechanics, or anything else. All of that leads to the latter judgment criteria anyway, really.

⚠️Rules⚠️ 

1. Entries MUST be tabletop games (as in, not video games). This includes all kinds of things, from rules that are contained in a haiku to print and play files that are dozens of pages long. It can be a TTRPG, a game that uses a standard deck of cards or dice, or literally anything you can think of. Just remember: the easier it is for people to play it (less to print, fewer cards to cut and sleeve, not having to create custom dice, etc), the more likely people will be to play and rate it.
2. Entries CANNOT be hateful or hurtful to others. Homophobic, transphobic, sexist, racist, etc games are 100% not welcome. Basically, if you think any group of people would be hurt or upset by your game, it goes against this rule. 
3. Entries MUST be made by the person submitting it and CANNOT include copywritten material. You don't have to be the only creator (feel free to work with other people, I sure do!), but don't steal a game from someone else, upload it, and act like it's your own. You can absolutely hack a game (hacking games is awesome!) and submit that because you still made it, just make sure the original creator is cool with you hacking their game :D 
4. Entries MUST be based on/inspired by music. It doesn't have to be a song; using part of the lyrics or the way the music flows is totally absolutely valid inspiration. Or maybe a band put out some really cool album art and you want to base your game on that! Or it could even be super generalized, like the power of a genre of music or how beautiful a specific instrument is to you, etc.
5. Entries MAY be previously made games, so long as you legitimately based them on music. Obviously, I'm not going to follow up with people to verify it or anything, I'm just asking you to please be honest 🥺
6. Creators MAY enter as many games as they want, but keep in mind that the bundle revenue split will be per creator, not per game. If you enter 10 games and they all make it into the bundle, you'll get the same share as someone who has one game in it.
7. Entries MUST be available freely during the ranking period (two weeks after the jam ends). This doesn't mean your game should be free; in fact, you should totally charge money for it! You worked hard to make your game! If you want to make your game PWYW (Pay What You Want), go for it, but feel free to use community copies as well, or make it temporarily free, or whatever works for you.

🥳Jam Deadline Extension🥳 

A friend of mine suggested I extend the deadline when I mentioned how disappointed I was that I wasn't even likely to enter anything into my own dang game jam: my very first jam and one that was meant to celebrate my birthday. My initial reaction was "well that's admitting to failure, though" and then "well that's unfair to everyone who entered in time", but it's not like there are prizes being given out and, well, this has been one heck of a month. So, heck with it: here's one more week!